Trapped with a cold in Paris I watched this wretched film on Arte, a channel which I respect for its better programmes than the rest of the French channels. But here was a real turkey with Alain Delon playing a sort of Bette Davis or Olivia de Havilland twin role. They were experts at this ( The Dark Mirror, A Stolen Life etc ) but he hopelessly remained bland and just seemed to be talking to himself. This is the sort of nonsense film that captivated the French in the early 1960's and in its stupid way was a defiant attack on the New Wave. Delon was not seen often in the new cinema, discounting Melville who was not in my opinion associated with the mainstream or the New Wave. Visconti and Melville could turn Delon into a very good actor, but in inferior hands he gave inferior performances. This film shows him at his worst. The dialogue is terrible. the music on the soundtrack appalling and Virna Lisi having a sword fight with a man was the highlight of the film. She jumped on to a horse wonderfully at the end of it, the man killed. It cured my cold and I leapt out of bed refreshed. To sum up, French cinema at its worst.
Review of The Black Tulip
